Arsalan Hashemi Executed in Hamedan

According to HRANA news agency, a man was executed in Hamedan Central Prison on 14 April. His identity has been reported as 31-year-old Arsalan Hashemi who was sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

Hengaw quoted an informed source in a separate report: “Arsalan Hashemi was from Kermanshah and arrested four years ago.”

Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year since 2021. According to IHRNGO’s 2023 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 471 people were executed for drug-related charges, an 84% increase compared to 2022 (256) and about 18 times the average of drug-related executions in 2018-2020.

On 10 April 2024, 80+ Iranian and international organisations and groups called for joint action to stop drug-related executions, urging UNODC to make “any cooperation with the Islamic Republic contingent on a complete halt on drug-related executions.